What a beautiful white lotus

They walked smoothly all the way. Although they encountered patrolling puppet troops on the road, they did not search them strictly. Tang Archangel passed the inspection with some benefits.

Soon, they arrived at the west city gate, where there were already two people dressed as boatmen waiting.The two who came were young men, and one of them greeted Zhou Shujuan, said hello to Zhou Shujuan, and roughly counted their number: "Is everyone here?"

Zhou Shujuan is also dressed as a man today, her eyebrows are thickly drawn with charcoal, her face is smeared gray, and her hair has been cut short.She lowered her voice and said, "It's all ready, are you ready?"

The man nodded: "Okay, let's go right away."

When Ye Rongqiu and the others heard that they were going with the fleet, they thought there was a group of people coming, but they didn't expect there were only two of them.He couldn't help asking: "Where is the fleet?"

One of the boatmen smiled and said, "Aren't we just a fleet? Isn't there enough people?"

Ye Rongqiu was startled.These two real boatmen took so many fake boatmen out of the city?Wouldn't it be easy to get caught?

The boatman probably saw through his thoughts, and said: "Don't worry, the devil won't investigate us."

Zhou Shujuan whispered: "Follow them, they have a way to take us out."

Having come to this point, Ye Rongqiu and the others can only trust Zhou Shujuan and the two boatmen, they have no other choice.

When they were all ready, they went to the waterway. Zhou Shujuan introduced the two boatmen to them. They were a pair of brothers who had been in the waterway business since childhood. The taller brother was named Zheng Shui, and the younger brother was named Zheng Yu. .

Xiao Zhao asked Zhou Shujuan in a low voice: "Are they also underground parties?"

Zhou Shujuan shook her head: "No. But now many people support our anti-Japanese cause. In order to open water roads, we have recruited many fishermen and boatmen over the past few years. They sometimes do things for the Japanese, but they will bring us the news first. It will also help us avoid the pursuit of the Japanese."

Xiao Zhao nodded.

Under the leadership of Nian Bai, the revolutionary work in southern Hubei is doing well, and the mass base is very good. Some ordinary people secretly help them when they hear that the people who come here are from the Communist Party.You must know that fishermen and boatmen are very helpful people to the cause of the Anti-Japanese War. Many Japanese materials have to be transported through them, and the boatmen are often in gangs, and many of them are relatives, so the Japanese do not dare to embarrass them too much. If it arouses public anger and the boatmen go on strike, the work of the Japanese will also be greatly affected.

Zheng Shui gave several of them a few fishermen's identity certificates. They met Japanese puppets who checked their identities on the road, and seeing that they were fishermen, they let them go without too much interrogation.

The journey went smoothly, and they soon came to the river, where the boats were ready.

They put Qiu Jinjin on board first, and Zhou Shujuan said to Tang Changtian: "Just send it here, you can go back to Wuchang first."

Tang Changtian was startled: "I'll go back, you go with them?"

Zhou Shujuan said, "Yes."

Tang Changtian said: "This is not good, the work in Wuchang City still needs you, or I will go with them and you go back."

Zhou Shujuan shook her head: "This mission involves a lot of things, so I must follow."

Hearing what she said, Tang Changtian agreed, "Well then, be careful."

Zheng Shui and Zheng Yu greeted everyone to get on the boat, and the others got on the boat immediately, but Ye Rongqiu stood where he was, looking at Zhou Shujuan thoughtfully.He heard what Zhou Shujuan said to Tang Changtian just now. Zhou Shujuan asked Tang Changtian to go back, but followed Ye Rongqiu and the others out of the city.According to what Zhou Shujuan said, she is Nian Bai, and she is the highest-ranking underground party member here, and there are things she can do that Tang Changtian can't. It may be that this operation involves some secrets that Tang Changtian doesn't even know about.

Ye Rongqiu always felt that Zhou Shujuan was hiding something from him, but Zhou Shujuan didn't want to tell the truth, so there was nothing he could do.

Zhou Shujuan asked Ye Rongqiu: "Why haven't you boarded the boat yet?"

Ye Rongqiu didn't say anything, turned around and went into the cabin.

The boat sailed out of the pier, out of the eyes of the Japanese puppets, and the tense nerves of everyone on board finally relaxed a little.

Qiu Jinjin had already been helped out of the cupboard, and being held in the cupboard all the way made him a little hypoxic, but other than that, his condition was fine, the wound did not open, and his mind was still quite clear.

Zhou Shujuan said: "We are going to Echeng. According to inside information, the artillery of the national army will go to Echeng by water tomorrow. We must find a way to intercept it."

Xiao Zhao said, "How many of us are there?"

Zhou Shujuan nodded: "It's just us, it's too late to wait for more people."

Xiao Zhao said nothing.

The task is tough, and they've known that from the start.

Ye Rongqiu looked at Qiu Jinjin worriedly.In Qiu Jinjin's current state, it is impossible to participate in the battle.Continuous travel may make his injury worse.

Zhou Shujuan said: "Squad leader Qiu can't go with us. When we get away from Wuchang, we should find a village to release him. We have a stronghold in a nearby village, and the villagers will take care of him for the time being."

Li Qiba immediately said: "I'll go with you."

Zhou Shujuan shook her head: "I have assigned you a more difficult task."

Li Qiba was stunned, and hurriedly asked: "What?"

Zhou Shujuan said, "Take care of Squad Leader Qiu."

Li Qiba's small face immediately wrinkled.Taking care of Qiu Jinjin is nice to say, but in fact, I can't take him to participate in this heartbeat.He said: "I can, my leg is fine!" He squeezed his fist and beat his injured leg.This beating is terrible.He immediately curled up into a ball, hugging his legs, his back arched like a shrimp, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead instantly, but he bit his lips tightly and didn't scream out.

Everyone laughed, Li Qiba's comrade-in-arms went to support him, Zhou Shujuan said: "I know you are fine, but Squad Leader Qiu must take care of our people. Others are not familiar with his situation, and the devils may conduct searches at any time. Leave someone we trust to take care of him. I see that you are prudent and responsible, so I entrust this task to you." She took out a bottle of medicine from her arms and handed it to Li Qiba, "You give him Apply it once to the wound. Use it sparingly depending on the situation.”

What Zhou Shujuan said was half sincere and half deceitful. Li Qiba glanced at his seriously injured squad leader, bit his lip, and nodded vigorously: "I see, I will take good care of the squad leader."

The journey was long, and after a while, Xiao Zhao moved to the Zheng brothers and chatted with them.

Xiao Zhao's family is in the countryside around Wuhan, very close to Wuchang. He also went fishing with the villagers when he was a child, so he and the Zheng brothers have a lot to talk about.

Xiao Zhao chatted with them about the water affairs for a while, and suddenly asked: "Why didn't the Japanese devils investigate you and let you leave the city so easily?"

Zheng Shui said cheerfully: "The little devils rely on us to deliver things to them, so they dare not make things difficult for us. The waterways near Wuchang are all in the hands of our brothers, and their supplies and weapons also need us to transport them. If we don't want to Fuck, sink the boat, all of them have black eyes. They also know that we help deliver things to the communist brothers. The little devil killed one of our brothers before because he sent a wounded national soldier out of the city. When we got out of the boat, the little devil forced us, so we chiseled the boat. After a month, the little devil came to admit his mistake, built the boat and sent us a hundred catties of rice. They will not dare to embarrass us anymore. .”

Xiao Zhao said in amazement: "Is the little devil so kind? If you don't go out of the boat, can't they kill you all and drive by themselves?"

Ye Rongqiu took his question: "If it was four or five years ago, I'm afraid they would have done this. At that time, the Japanese devils wanted to eat our Great China in three months, and their methods were very tough. How many villages and towns were slaughtered. But they How can such a tiny place achieve China's subjugation in March? After so many years of fighting, the little Japanese country has long been hollowed out. Their current strategy is to 'use China to control China' and 'use war to support war'. They themselves There are not so many manpower and material resources.”

Zhou Shujuan nodded: "That's right."

Xiao Zhao looked embarrassed: "Since this is the case, the common people will unite and do nothing to help the Japanese devils, so it's okay! Without the rice we plant and the iron we dig, the little devils can't do anything."

Ye Rongqiu sighed and remained silent.

Zhou Shujuan smiled wryly: "That's the truth. Who wouldn't want this? It's a pity that we Chinese are not united enough. There are so many Japanese puppet elements. We can hide from the Japanese devils, but we can't hide from the traitors."

Zheng Shui said, "I don't like the word traitor. In fact, some things are easy to think, but too difficult to do. I also want to pick up a machine gun and shoot their little devils, but I still have an old mother, a wife and children." I'm dead, and if I lose my head, I'll have a scar the size of a bowl, but if I can't drive out all the devils, I won't dare to leave my wife and children to suffer that crime."

Zheng Yu, who had been silent all this time, said: "I don't want to deliver the goods for the devils, but if I don't deliver the goods for the devils, I can't send you out of the city today."

Everyone fell silent.The cruelty of war and the helplessness of human nature, this topic is too heavy.

Zheng Shui and Zheng Yu are two brothers, Zheng Shui looks kinder and always smiling, while Zheng Yu is more reserved and has no expression on his face.At this time, it was Zheng Shui who broke the heavy atmosphere. He smiled and said, "We brothers can't do anything big, but the truth is always clear. If you don't drive out the little devil, the life of the old lady will be in the devil's hands. We will never be able to live a stable life. Brothers in the Communist Army have something to say, we will do our best to help if we can, and we will be the first to tell you if there is any news we know."

Ye Rongqiu moved to the head of the bed and asked, "What kind of goods do you usually deliver to the little devil?"

Zheng Shui thought for a while and said, "The road our brother is responsible for usually delivers a lot of food. It has also delivered people."

Ye Rongqiu asked: "People? Transport soldiers?"

Zheng Shui shook his head: "That's not true. Send it to the Chinese, send it to the mine for mining."

Ye Rongqiu was taken aback, and suddenly remembered what he saw in the city that day when the Japanese soldiers escorted the people.He immediately asked: "Which mine?"

Zheng Shui said: "Daye in Huangshi."

Ye Rongqiu said, "Where do you usually send food?"

Zheng Shui said: "That's not clear, maybe it is. We didn't go directly to Daye, we sent it halfway, and someone else was responsible for the second half."

Ye Rongqiu wanted to ask further questions, when Zhou Shujuan came over and asked Zheng Shui: "Is the village coming soon? How long will it take?"

Zheng Shui glanced ahead and said, "Hurry up, turn the first two turns and we'll be there."

Zhou Shujuan nodded, then turned to Ye Rongqiu and said, "Go and see Squad Leader Qiu, and put him and Li Qiba down when you get to the village. He still has something to say to you."